Born approximately in 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca,[8][9] Muhammad was orphaned at an early age; he was raised under the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib. After his childhood Muhammad primarily worked as a merchant.[10] Occasionally he would retreat to a cave in the mountains for several nights of seclusion and prayer; later, at age 40, he reported at this spot,[8][11] that he was visited by Gabriel and received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" (lit. islām) to Him is the only way (dīn)[n 3] acceptable to God, and that he was a prophet and messenger of God, similar to the other prophets in Islam.[12][13][14]

The revelations (each known as Ayah, lit. "Sign [of God]"), which Muhammad reported receiving until his death, form the verses of the Quran, regarded by Muslims as the "Word of God" and around which the religion is based. Besides the Quran, Muhammad's teachings and practices (sunnah), found in the Hadith and sira literature, are also upheld by Muslims and used as sources of Islamic law (see Sharia). While conceptions of Muhammad in medievalChristendom were largely negative, appraisals in modern history have been far more favorable.[14][18] Other appraisals of Muhammad throughout history, such as those found in medieval China, have also been positive.[19][20][21][22][23]

Although it mentions Muhammad directly only four times,[31][Quran3:144][Quran33:40][Quran47:2][Quran48:29] there are verses which can be interpreted as allusions to Muhammad's life.[14][n 4] The Quran, however, provides minimal assistance for Muhammad's chronological biography; most verses in the Quran do not provide much in the way of historical context.[32][33]

Early biographies

An important source may be found in the historic works by writers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries of the Muslim era (AH – 8th and 9th century CE).[34] These include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad (the sira literature), which provide additional information about Muhammad's life.[35]

Many scholars accept the accuracy of the earliest biographies, though their accuracy is unascertainable.[36] Recent studies have led scholars to distinguish between the traditions touching legal matters and the purely historical ones. In the former sphere, traditions could have been subject to invention while in the latter sphere, aside from exceptional cases, the material may have been only subject to "tendential shaping".[38]

Some Western academics view the hadith collections with caution as accurate historical sources.[39] Scholars such as Madelung do not reject the narrations which have been compiled in later periods, but judge them in the context of history and on the basis of their compatibility with the events and figures.[40]

Pre-Islamic Arabia

The Arabian Peninsula was largely arid and volcanic, agriculture was difficult except near oases or springs. The landscape was dotted with towns and cities; two of the most prominent being Mecca and Medina. Medina was a large flourishing agricultural settlement, while Mecca was an important financial center for many surrounding tribes.[41] Communal life was essential for survival in the desert conditions, supporting indigenous tribes against the harsh environment and lifestyle. Tribal grouping was encouraged by the need to act as a unit, this unity being based on the bond of kinship by blood.[42] Indigenous Arabs were either nomadic or sedentary, the former constantly travelling from one place to another seeking water and pasture for their flocks, while the latter settled and focused on trade and agriculture. Nomadic survival was also dependent on raiding caravans or oases, the nomads not viewing this as a crime.[43][44]

Politically Arabia at the time was divided between two tribal confederations, the Banu Qais, loosely allied with Byzantium and who were originally powerful in Northern and Western Arabia, and the Banu Kalb, who had originally come from Yemen, and were loosely allied with Sassanid Persia.

In pre-Islamic Arabia, gods or goddesses were viewed as protectors of individual tribes, their spirits being associated with sacred trees, stones, springs and wells. As well as being the site of an annual pilgrimage, the Kaaba shrine in Mecca housed 360 idol statues of tribal patron deities. Three goddesses were associated with Allah as his daughters: Allāt, Manāt and al-‘Uzzá. Monotheistic communities existed in Arabia, including Christians and Jews.[45]Hanifs – native pre-Islamic Arabs who "professed a rigid monotheism"[46] – are also sometimes listed alongside Jews and Christians in pre-Islamic Arabia, although their historicity is disputed among scholars.[47][48] According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad himself was a Hanif and one of the descendants of Ishmael, son of Abraham.[49]

Childhood and early life

Muhammad was born about the year 570[8] and his birthday is believed to be in the month of Rabi' al-awwal.[50] He belonged to the Banu Hashim clan, one of Mecca's prominent families, although it appears less prosperous during Muhammad's early lifetime.[14][51] The Banu Hashim clan was part of the Quraysh tribe. Tradition places the year of Muhammad's birth as corresponding with the Year of the Elephant, which is named after the failed destruction of Mecca that year by the Aksumite kingAbraha who supplemented his army with elephants. An outbreak of smallpox among the Aksumites may explain the failure of the invading army.[52] 20th century scholarship has suggested alternative dates for this event, such as 568 or 569.[53]

His father, Abdullah, died almost six months before Muhammad was born.[55] According to Islamic tradition, soon after Muhammad's birth he was sent to live with a Bedouin family in the desert, as desert life was considered healthier for infants.[56] Muhammad stayed with his foster-mother, Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb, and her husband until he was two years old.[10] Some western scholars of Islam have rejected the historicity of this tradition.[56] At the age of six, Muhammad lost his biological mother Amina to illness and he became orphaned.[10][57] For the next two years, he was under the guardianship of his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, of the Banu Hashim clan, but when Muhammad was eight, his grandfather also died. He then came under the care of his uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of Banu Hashim.[10][53] According to Islamic historian William Montgomery Watt there was a general disregard by guardians in taking care of weaker members of the tribes in Mecca during the 6th century, "Muhammad's guardians saw that he did not starve to death, but it was hard for them to do more for him, especially as the fortunes of the clan of Hashim seem to have been declining at that time."[58]

While still in his teens, Muhammad accompanied his uncle on trading journeys to Syria gaining experience in commercial trade.[10][58] Islamic tradition states that when Muhammad was either nine or twelve while accompanying the Meccans' caravan to Syria, he met a Christian monk or hermit named Bahira who is said to have foreseen Muhammad's career as a prophet of God.[59]

Little is known of Muhammad during his later youth, and from the fragmentary information that is available, it is difficult to separate history from legend.[10][58] It is known that he became a merchant and "was involved in trade between the Indian ocean and the Mediterranean Sea."[60] Due to his upright character he acquired the nickname "al-Amin" (Arabic: الامين), meaning "faithful, trustworthy" and "al-Sadiq" meaning "truthful"[61] and was sought out as an impartial arbitrator.[9][14][62] His reputation attracted a proposal in 595 from Khadijah, a 40-year-old widow. Muhammad consented to the marriage, which by all accounts was a happy one.[10][60]

Several years later, according to a narration collected by historian Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad was involved with a well-known story about setting the Black Stone in place in the wall of the Kaaba in 605 CE. The Black Stone, a sacred object, had been removed to facilitate renovations to the Kaaba. The leaders of Mecca could not agree on which clan should have the honour of setting the Black Stone back in its place. They agreed to wait for the next man to come through the gate and ask him to choose. That man was the 35-year-old Muhammad, five years before his first revelation. He asked for a cloth and put the Black Stone in its centre. The clan leaders held the corners of the cloth and together carried the Black Stone to the right spot, then Muhammad set the stone in place, satisfying the honour of all.[63]

Beginnings of the Quran

The cave Hira in the mountain Jabal al-Nour where, according to Muslim belief, Muhammad received his first revelation.

Muhammad adopted the practice of praying alone for several weeks every year in a cave on Mount Hira near Mecca.[64][65] Islamic tradition holds that during one of his visits to Mount Hira, the angel Gabriel appeared to him in the year 610 and commanded Muhammad to recite verses which would later be included in the Quran.[66] There is a consensus that the first words of the Quran to be revealed were the beginning of Surah 96:1.[67] Upon receiving his first revelations, he was deeply distressed. After returning home, Muhammad was consoled and reassured by Khadijah and her Christian cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal.[68] Waraqah is variously described as an Ebionite priest (possibly of Mecca) or Nestorian. He also feared that others would dismiss his claims as being possessed.[44] Shi'a tradition maintains that Muhammad was neither surprised nor frightened at the appearance of Gabriel but rather Muhammad welcomed him as if he was expecting.[69] The initial revelation was followed by a pause of three years (a period known as fatra) during which Muhammad felt depressed and further gave himself to prayers and spiritual practices.[67] When the revelations resumed he was reassured and commanded to begin preaching: "Thy Guardian-Lord hath not forsaken thee, nor is He displeased."[70][71][72]

Sahih Bukhari narrates Muhammad describing his revelations as "sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell". Aisha reported, "I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)".[73] According to Welch these descriptions may be considered genuine, since they are unlikely to have been forged by later Muslims.[14] Muhammad was confident that he could distinguish his own thoughts from these messages.[74] According to the Quran, one of the main roles of Muhammad is to warn the unbelievers of their eschatological punishment (Quran 38:70, Quran 6:19). Occasionally the Quran did not explicitly refer to Judgment day but provided examples from the history of extinct communities and warns Muhammad's contemporaries of similar calamities (Quran 41:13–16).[26] Muhammad did not only warn those who rejected God's revelation, but also dispensed good news for those who abandoned evil, listening to the divine words and serving God.[75] Muhammad's mission also involves preaching monotheism: The Quran commands Muhammad to proclaim and praise the name of his Lord and instructs him not to worship idols or associate other deities with God.[26][76]

The key themes of the early Quranic verses included the responsibility of man towards his creator; the resurrection of the dead, God's final judgment followed by vivid descriptions of the tortures in Hell and pleasures in Paradise; and the signs of God in all aspects of life. Religious duties required of the believers at this time were few: belief in God, asking for forgiveness of sins, offering frequent prayers, assisting others particularly those in need, rejecting cheating and the love of wealth (considered to be significant in the commercial life of Mecca), being chaste and not to kill newborn girls.[14]

Opposition

According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad's wife Khadija was the first to believe he was a prophet.[77] She was followed by Muhammad's ten-year-old cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, close friend Abu Bakr, and adopted son Zaid.[11][77] Around 613, Muhammad began to preach to the public (Quran 26:214).[78] Most Meccans ignored him and mocked him,[76] though a few became his followers. There were three main groups of early converts to Islam: younger brothers and sons of great merchants; people who had fallen out of the first rank in their tribe or failed to attain it; and the weak, mostly unprotected foreigners.[79]

The last ayah from the suraAn-Najm in the Quran: "So prostrate to Allah and worship [Him]." Muhammad's message of monotheism (one God) challenged the traditional order.

According to Ibn Sad, the opposition in Mecca started when Muhammad delivered verses that condemned idol worship and the Meccan forefathers who engaged in polytheism.[76][80] However, the Quranic exegesis maintains that it began as Muhammad started public preaching.[81] As the number of followers increased, he became a threat to the local tribes and rulers of the city, whose wealth rested upon the Ka'aba, the focal point of Meccan religious life that Muhammad threatened to overthrow. Muhammad's denunciation of the Meccan traditional religion was especially offensive to his own tribe, the Quraysh, as they were the guardians of the Ka'aba.[79] The powerful merchants attempted to convince Muhammad to abandon his preaching by offering him admission into the inner circle of merchants, and establishing his position therein by an advantageous marriage. However, he refused both.[79]

Tradition records at great length the persecution and ill-treatment towards Muhammad and his followers.[14][76]Sumayyah bint Khabbab, a slave of a prominent Meccan leader Abu Jahl, is famous as the first martyr of Islam; killed with a spear by her master when she refused to give up her faith. Bilal, another Muslim slave, was tortured by Umayyah ibn Khalaf who used to place a heavy rock on his chest to force his conversion.[82][83] Apart from insults, Muhammad was protected from physical harm as he belonged to the Banu Hashim clan.[76][84][85]

In 615, some of Muhammad's followers emigrated to the Ethiopian Aksumite Empire and founded a small colony under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian emperor Aṣḥama ibn Abjar.[14][76]Ibn Sa'ad mentions two separate migrations. According to him, most of the Muslims returned to Mecca prior to Hijra, while there was a second group that rejoined them in Medina. Ibn Hisham and Tabari, however, only talk about one migration to Ethiopia. These accounts agree that persecution in Mecca played a major role in Muḥammad's decision to suggest that a number of his followers seek refuge among the Christians in Abyssinia. According to the famous letter of ʿUrwa preserved in al-Tabari, the majority of Muslims returned to their native town after Islam had become strengthened when high rank people in Mecca, such as Umar and Hamzah converted. However, there is a completely different story on the reason why the Muslims returned from Ethiopia to Mecca. According to this account -that was initially mentioned by Al-Waqidi then rehashed by Ibn Sa'ad and Tabari, but not by Ibn Hisham and not by Ibn Ishaq-[86] Muhammad, desperately hoping for an accommodation with his tribe, pronounced a verse acknowledging the existence of three Meccan goddesses considered to be the daughters of Allah. Muhammad retracted the verses the next day at the behest of Gabriel, claiming that the verses were whispered by the devil himself. Instead, a ridicule of these gods was offered.[87][n 5][n 6] This episode known as "The Story of the Cranes" (translation: قصة الغرانيق, transliteration: Qissat al Gharaneeq) is also known as "Satanic Verses". According to the story this led to a general reconciliation between Muḥammad and the Meccans, and the Muslims who had migrated to Abyssinia began to return home. By the time they arrived, however, the archangel Gabriel had informed Muḥammad that the two g̲h̲arānīḳ verses were not part of the revelation, but had been inserted by Satan. Notable scholars at the time argued against the historic authenticity of these verses and the story itself on various grounds.[88][89][n 7] Later, the incident received some acceptance, however, strong objections to it bolstered from the 10th century onwards, on theological grounds. The objections continued on this point until rejection of these verses and of the story itself eventually became the only acceptable orthodox Muslim position.[90]

In 617, the leaders of Makhzum and Banu Abd-Shams, two important Quraysh clans, declared a public boycott against Banu Hashim, their commercial rival, to pressure it into withdrawing its protection of Muhammad. The boycott lasted three years but eventually collapsed as it failed in its objective.[91][92] During this, Muhammad was only able to preach during the holy pilgrimage months in which all hostilities between Arabs was suspended.[93]

Isra and Mi'raj

The Al-Aqsa Mosque, part of the al-Haram ash-Sharif complex in Jerusalem, is believed to be the "farthest mosque" to which Muhammad travelled in his night journey. The al-Haram ash-Sharif is the third holiest place on earth for Muslims.[94]

Some western scholars[who?] hold that the Isra and Mi'raj identified the journey as traveling through the heavens from the sacred enclosure at Mecca to the celestial al-Baytu l-Maʿmur (heavenly prototype of the Kaaba); later traditions indicate Muhammad's journey as having been from Mecca to Jerusalem.[97][page needed]

Last years in Mecca before Hijra

Muhammad's wife Khadijah and uncle Abu Talib both died in 619, the year thus being known as the "year of sorrow". With the death of Abu Talib, leadership of the Banu Hashim clan passed to Abu Lahab, a tenacious enemy of Muhammad. Soon afterwards, Abu Lahab withdrew the clan's protection over Muhammad. This placed Muhammad in danger; the withdrawal of clan protection implied that blood revenge for his killing would not be exacted. Muhammad then visited Ta'if, another important city in Arabia, and tried to find a protector, but his effort failed and further brought him into physical danger.[14][92][93] Muhammad was forced to return to Mecca. A Meccan man named Mut'im ibn Adi (and the protection of the tribe of Banu Nawfal) made it possible for him to safely re-enter his native city.[14][92][93]

Many people were visiting Mecca on business or as pilgrims to the Kaaba. Muhammad took this opportunity to look for a new home for himself and his followers. After several unsuccessful negotiations, he found hope with some men from Yathrib (later called Medina).[14] The Arab population of Yathrib were familiar with monotheism and were prepared for the appearance of a prophet because a Jewish community existed there.[14][98] They also hoped, by the means of Muhammad and the new faith, to gain supremacy over Mecca; the Yathrib were jealous of its importance as the place of pilgrimage.[98] Converts to Islam came from nearly all Arab tribes in Medina; by June of the subsequent year, seventy-five Muslims came to Mecca for pilgrimage and to meet Muhammad. Meeting him secretly by night, the group made what is known as the "Second Pledge of al-`Aqaba",[98] or, in Orientalists' view, the "Pledge of War".[99] Following the pledges at Aqabah, Muhammad encouraged his followers to emigrate to Yathrib. As with the migration to Abyssinia, the Quraysh attempted to stop the emigration. However, almost all Muslims managed to leave.[100]

The Hijra is the migration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. In June 622, warned of a plot to assassinate him, Muhammad secretly slipped out of Mecca and moved his followers to Medina,[98] 320 kilometres (200 miles) north of Mecca.

Migration to Medina

A delegation, consisting of the representatives of the twelve important clans of Medina, invited Muhammad to serve as chief arbitrator for the entire community; due to his status as a neutral outsider.[101][102] There was fighting in Yathrib: primarily the dispute involved its Arab and Jewish inhabitants, and was estimated to have lasted for around a hundred years before 620.[101] The recurring slaughters and disagreements over the resulting claims, especially after the Battle of Bu'ath in which all clans were involved, made it obvious to them that the tribal concept of blood-feud and an eye for an eye were no longer workable unless there was one man with authority to adjudicate in disputed cases.[101] The delegation from Medina pledged themselves and their fellow-citizens to accept Muhammad into their community and physically protect him as one of themselves.[14]

Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina, until nearly all his followers left Mecca. Being alarmed at the departure, according to tradition, the Meccans plotted to assassinate Muhammad. With the help of Ali, Muhammad fooled the Meccans watching him, and secretly slipped away from the town with Abu Bakr.[98][103] By 622, Muhammad emigrated to Medina, a large agricultural oasis. Those who migrated from Mecca along with Muhammad became known as muhajirun (emigrants).[14]

Establishment of a new polity

Among the first things Muhammad did to ease the longstanding grievances among the tribes of Medina was to draft a document known as the Constitution of Medina, "establishing a kind of alliance or federation" among the eight Medinan tribes and Muslim emigrants from Mecca; this specified rights and duties of all citizens, and the relationship of the different communities in Medina (including the Muslim community to other communities, specifically the Jews and other "Peoples of the Book").[101][102] The community defined in the Constitution of Medina, Ummah, had a religious outlook, also shaped by practical considerations and substantially preserved the legal forms of the old Arab tribes.[14]

Several ordinances were proclaimed to win over the numerous and wealthy Jewish population. These were soon rescinded as the Jews insisted on preserving the entire Mosaic law, and did not recognize him as a prophet because he was not of the race of David.[98]

The first group of converts to Islam in Medina were the clans without great leaders; these clans had been subjugated by hostile leaders from outside.[104] This was followed by the general acceptance of Islam by the pagan population of Medina, with some exceptions. According to Ibn Ishaq, this was influenced by the conversion of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh (a prominent Medinan leader) to Islam.[105] Medinans who converted to Islam and helped the Muslim emigrants find shelter became known as the ansar (supporters).[14] Then Muhammad instituted brotherhood between the emigrants and the supporters and he chose Ali as his own brother.[106]

God!
There is no god but He,
the Living, the Everlasting.
Slumber seizes Him not, neither sleep;
to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth.
Who is there that shall intercede with Him save by His leave?
He knows what lies before them and what is after them,
and they comprehend not anything of His knowledge
save such as He wills.
His Throne comprises the heavens and earth;
the preserving of them oppresses Him not;
He is the All-high, the All-glorious.

Following the emigration, the people of Mecca seized property of Muslim emigrants to Medina.[108] Economically uprooted with no available profession, the Muslim migrants turned to raiding Meccan caravans, initiating armed conflict with Mecca.[109][110][111] Muhammad delivered Quranic verses permitting Muslims to fight the Meccans (see sura Al-Hajj, Quran 22:39–40).[112] These attacks allowed the migrants to acquire wealth, power and prestige while working towards the ultimate goal of conquering Mecca.[113][114]

According to the traditional account, on 11 February 624, while praying in the Masjid al-Qiblatayn in Medina, Muhammad received revelations from God that he should be facing Mecca rather than Jerusalem during prayer. Muhammad adjusted to the new direction, and his companions praying with him followed his lead, beginning the tradition of facing Mecca during prayer.[115] According to Watt, the change may have been less sudden and definite than the story suggests – the related Quranic verses (2:136–2:147) appear to have been revealed at different times – and correlates with changes in Muhammad's political support base, symbolizing his turning away from Jews and adopting a more Arabian outlook.[115]

In March 624, Muhammad led some three hundred warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Muslims set an ambush for the caravan at Badr.[116] Aware of the plan, the Meccan caravan eluded the Muslims.[111] A force from Mecca was sent to protect the caravan, and continued en route to confront the Muslims upon receiving word that the caravan was safe. The Battle of Badr commenced.[117] Though outnumbered more than three to one, the Muslims won the battle, killing at least forty-five Meccans with fourteen Muslims dead. They also succeeded in killing many Meccan leaders, including Abu Jahl.[118] Seventy prisoners had been acquired, many of whom were ransomed in return for wealth or freed.[109][111][119][120] Muhammad and his followers saw the victory as confirmation of their faith[14] and Muhammad ascribed the victory as assisted from an invisible host of angels.[121] The Quranic verses of this period, unlike the Meccan verses, dealt with practical problems of government and issues like the distribution of spoils.[122][123]

The victory strengthened Muhammad's position in Medina and dispelled earlier doubts among his followers.[124] As a result, the opposition to him became less vocal. Pagans who had not yet converted were very bitter about the advance of Islam. Two pagans, Asma bint Marwan of the Aws Manat tribe and Abu 'Afak of the 'Amr b. 'Awf tribe, had composed verses taunting and insulting the Muslims.[125] They were killed by people belonging to their own or related clans, and Muhammad did not disapprove the killings.[125] Most members of those tribes converted to Islam and there was hardly any opposition from the pagans left.[126]

Muhammad expelled from Medina the Banu Qaynuqa, one of three main Jewish tribes,[14] but some historians contend that the expulsion happened after Muhammad's death.[127] According to al-Waqidi, after Abd-Allah ibn Ubaiy spoke for them, Muhammad refrained from executing them and commanded that they be exiled from Medina.[128] Following the Battle of Badr, Muhammad also made mutual-aid alliances with a number of Bedouin tribes to protect his community from attacks from the northern part of Hejaz.[14]

Conflict with Mecca

The Kaaba in Mecca long held a major economic and religious role for the area. Seventeen months after Muhammad's arrival in Medina, it became the Muslim Qibla, or direction for prayer (salat). The Kaaba has been rebuilt several times; the present structure, built in 1629, is a reconstruction of an earlier building dating to 683.[129]

The Meccans were eager to avenge their defeat. To maintain economic prosperity, the Meccans needed to restore their prestige, which had been reduced at Badr.[130] In the ensuing months, the Meccans sent ambush parties to Medina while Muhammad led expeditions against tribes allied with Mecca and sent raiders onto a Meccan caravan.[131]Abu Sufyan gathered an army of three thousand men and set out for an attack on Medina.[123][132]

A scout alerted Muhammad of the Meccan army's presence and numbers a day later. The next morning, at the Muslim conference of war, dispute arose over how best to repel the Meccans. Muhammad and many senior figures suggested it would be safer to fight within Medina and take advantage of the heavily fortified strongholds. Younger Muslims argued that the Meccans were destroying crops, and huddling in the strongholds would destroy Muslim prestige. Muhammad eventually conceded to the younger Muslims and readied the Muslim force for battle.[123] Muhammad led his force outside to the mountain of Uhud (the location of the Meccans camp) and fought the Battle of Uhud on 23 March.[133][134] Although the Muslim army had the advantage in early encounters, lack of discipline on the part of strategically placed archers led to a Muslim defeat; 75 Muslims were killed including Hamza, Muhammad's uncle who became one of the best known martyrs in the Muslim tradition. The Meccans did not pursue the Muslims, instead they marched back to Mecca declaring victory. The announcement is probably because Muhammad was wounded and thought dead. When they discovered that Muhammad lived, the Meccans did not return due to false information about new forces coming to his aid.[123] The attack had failed to achieve their aim of completely destroying the Muslims.[135][136] The Muslims buried the dead, and returned to Medina that evening. Questions accumulated about the reasons for the loss; Muhammad delivered Quranic verses 3:152 indicating that the defeat was twofold: partly a punishment for disobedience, partly a test for steadfastness.[137]

Abu Sufyan directed his effort towards another attack on Medina. He gained support from the nomadic tribes to the north and east of Medina; using propaganda about Muhammad's weakness, promises of booty, memories of Quraysh prestige and through bribery.[138] Muhammad's new policy was to prevent alliances against him. Whenever alliances against Medina were formed, he sent out expeditions to break them up.[138] Muhammad heard of men massing with hostile intentions against Medina, and reacted in a severe manner.[139] One example is the assassination of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, a chieftain of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir. al-Ashraf went to Mecca and wrote poems that roused the Meccans' grief, anger and desire for revenge after the Battle of Badr.[140][141] Around a year later, Muhammad expelled the Banu Nadir from Medina[142] forcing their emigration to Syria; he allowed them to take some possessions, as he was unable to subdue the Banu Nadir in their strongholds. The rest of their property was claimed by Muhammad in the name of God as it was not gained with bloodshed. Muhammad surprised various Arab tribes, individually, with overwhelming force, causing his enemies to unite to annihilate him.[143] Muhammad's attempts to prevent a confederation against him were unsuccessful, though he was able to increase his own forces and stopped many potential tribes from joining his enemies.[144]

Siege of Medina

With the help of the exiled Banu Nadir, the Quraysh military leader Abu Sufyan mustered a force of 10,000 men. Muhammad prepared a force of about 3,000 men and adopted a form of defense unknown in Arabia at that time; the Muslims dug a trench[143] wherever Medina lay open to cavalry attack. The idea is credited to a Persian convert to Islam, Salman the Persian. The siege of Medina began on 31 March 627[143] and lasted two weeks.[145] Abu Sufyan's troops were unprepared for the fortifications, and after an ineffectual siege, the coalition decided to return home.[143][146] The Quran discusses this battle in sura Al-Ahzab, in verses 33:9–27.[81] During the battle, the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza, located the south of Medina, entered into negotiations with Meccan forces to revolt against Muhammad. Although the Meccan forces were swayed by suggestions that Muhammad was sure to be overwhelmed, they desired reassurance in case the confederacy was unable to destroy him. No agreement was reached after prolonged negotiations, partly due to sabotage attempts by Muhammad's scouts.[147] After the coalition's retreat, the Muslims accused the Banu Qurayza of treachery and besieged them in their forts for 25 days. The Banu Qurayza eventually surrendered; according to Ibn Ishaq, all the men apart from a few converts to Islam were beheaded, while the women and children were enslaved.[143][148][149] Walid N. Arafat and Barakat Ahmad have disputed the accuracy of Ibn Ishaq's narrative.[150] Arafat believes that Ibn Ishaq's Jewish sources, speaking over 100 years after the event, conflated this account with memories of earlier massacres in Jewish history; he notes that Ibn Ishaq was considered an unreliable historian by his contemporary Malik ibn Anas, and a transmitter of "odd tales" by the later Ibn Hajar.[151] Ahmad argues that only some of the tribe was killed, while some of the fighters were merely enslaved.[152][153] Watt finds Arafat's arguments "not entirely convincing", while Meir J. Kister has contradicted[clarification needed] the arguments of Arafat and Ahmad.[154]

In the siege of Medina, the Meccans exerted the available strength to destroy the Muslim community. The failure resulted in a significant loss of prestige; their trade with Syria vanished.[155] Following the Battle of the Trench, Muhammad made two expeditions to the north, both ended without any fighting.[14][143] While returning from one of these journeys (or some years earlier according to other early accounts), an accusation of adultery was made against Aisha, Muhammad's wife. Aisha was exonerated from accusations when Muhammad announced he had received a revelation confirming Aisha's innocence and directing that charges of adultery be supported by four eyewitnesses (sura 24, An-Nur).[156]

Truce of Hudaybiyyah

"In your name, O God!
This is the treaty of peace between Muhammad Ibn Abdullah and Suhayl Ibn Amr. They have agreed to allow their arms to rest for ten years. During this time each party shall be secure, and neither shall injure the other; no secret damage shall be inflicted, but honesty and honour shall prevail between them. Whoever in Arabia wishes to enter into a treaty or covenant with Muhammad can do so, and whoever wishes to enter into a treaty or covenant with the Quraysh can do so. And if a Qurayshite comes without the permission of his guardian to Muhammad, he shall be delivered up to the Quraysh; but if, on the other hand, one of Muhammad's people comes to the Quraysh, he shall not be delivered up to Muhammad. This year, Muhammad, with his companions, must withdraw from Mecca, but next year, he may come to Mecca and remain for three days, yet without their weapons except those of a traveller; the swords remaining in their sheaths."

Although Muhammad had delivered Quranic verses commanding the Hajj,[158] the Muslims had not performed it due to Quraysh enmity. In the month of Shawwal 628,[143] Muhammad ordered his followers to obtain sacrificial animals and to prepare for a pilgrimage (umrah) to Mecca, saying that God had promised him the fulfillment of this goal in a vision when he was shaving his head after completion of the Hajj.[159] Upon hearing of the approaching 1,400 Muslims, the Quraysh dispatched 200 cavalry to halt them. Muhammad evaded them by taking a more difficult route, enabling his followers to reach al-Hudaybiyya just outside of Mecca.[160] According to Watt, although Muhammad's decision to make the pilgrimage was based on his dream, he was also demonstrating to the pagan Meccans that Islam did not threaten the sanctuaries prestige, that Islam was an Arabian religion.[160]

Negotiations commenced with emissaries travelling to and from Mecca. While these continued, rumors spread that one of the Muslim negotiators, Uthman bin al-Affan, had been killed by the Quraysh. Muhammad called upon the pilgrims to make a pledge not to flee (or to stick with Muhammad, whatever decision he made) if the situation descended into war with Mecca. This pledge became known as the "Pledge of Acceptance" (Arabic: بيعة الرضوان , bay'at al-ridhwān‎) or the "Pledge under the Tree". News of Uthman's safety allowed for negotiations to continue, and a treaty scheduled to last ten years was eventually signed between the Muslims and Quraysh.[160][161] The main points of the treaty included: cessation of hostilities, the deferral of Muhammad's pilgrimage to the following year,[162] and agreement to send back any Meccan who emigrated to Medina without permission from their protector.[160]

Many Muslims were not satisfied with the treaty. However, the Quranic sura "Al-Fath" (The Victory) (Quran 48:1–29) assured them that the expedition must be considered a victorious one.[163] It was later that Muhammad's followers realized the benefit behind the treaty. These benefits included the requirement of the Meccans to identify Muhammad as an equal,[162] cessation of military activity allowing Medina to gain strength, and the admiration of Meccans who were impressed by the pilgrimage rituals.[14]

Final years

Conquest of Mecca

A depiction of Muhammad (with veiled face) advancing on Mecca from Siyer-i Nebi, a 16th-century Ottoman manuscript. The angels Gabriel, Michael, Israfil and Azrail, are also shown.

The truce of Hudaybiyyah had been enforced for two years.[169][170] The tribe of Banu Khuza'a had good relations with Muhammad, whereas their enemies, the Banu Bakr, had allied with the Meccans.[169][170] A clan of the Bakr made a night raid against the Khuza'a, killing a few of them.[169][170] The Meccans helped the Banu Bakr with weapons and, according to some sources, a few Meccans also took part in the fighting.[167][169] After this event, Muhammad sent a message to Mecca with three conditions, asking them to accept one of them. These were: either the Meccans would pay blood money for the slain among the Khuza'ah tribe, they disavow themselves of the Banu Bakr, or they should declare the truce of Hudaybiyyah null.[171]

The Meccans replied that they accepted the last condition.[171] Soon they realized their mistake and sent Abu Sufyan to renew the Hudaybiyyah treaty, a request that was declined by Muhammad.[167]

Muhammad began to prepare for a campaign.[172] In 630, Muhammad marched on Mecca with 10,000 Muslim converts. With minimal casualties, Muhammad seized control of Mecca.[173][174] He declared an amnesty for past offences, except for ten men and women who were "guilty of murder or other offences or had sparked off the war and disrupted the peace".[175] Some of these were later pardoned.[174][176] Most Meccans converted to Islam and Muhammad proceeded to destroy all the statues of Arabian gods in and around the Kaaba.[174][177][178] According to reports collected by Ibn Ishaq and al-Azraqi, Muhammad personally spared paintings or frescos of Mary and Jesus, but other traditions suggest that all pictures were erased.[179] The Quran discusses the conquest of Mecca.[81][180]

Conquest of Arabia

Following the conquest of Mecca, Muhammad was alarmed by a military threat from the confederate tribes of Hawazin who were raising an army twice Muhammad's size. The Banu Hawazin were old enemies of the Meccans. They were joined by the Banu Thaqif (inhabiting the city of Ta'if) who adopted an anti-Meccan policy due to the decline of the prestige of Meccans.[181] Muhammad defeated the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes in the Battle of Hunayn.[14][182]

In the same year, Muhammad organized an attack against northern Arabia because of their previous defeat at the Battle of Mu'tah and reports of hostility adopted against Muslims. With great difficulty he assembled thirty thousand men; half of whom on the second day returned with Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy, untroubled by the damning verses which Muhammad hurled at them.[183] Although Muhammad did not engage with hostile forces at Tabuk, he received the submission of some local chiefs of the region.[14][184]

He also ordered destruction of any remaining pagan idols in Eastern Arabia. The last city to hold out against the Muslims in Western Arabia was Taif. Muhammad refused to accept the city's surrender until they agreed to convert to Islam and allowed men to destroy the statue of their goddess Allat.[185][186][187]

A year after the Battle of Tabuk, the Banu Thaqif sent emissaries to surrender to Muhammad and adopt Islam. Many bedouins submitted to Muhammad to safeguard against his attacks and to benefit from the spoils of war.[14][183] However, the bedouins were alien to the system of Islam and wanted to maintain independence: namely their code of virtue and ancestral traditions. Muhammad required a military and political agreement according to which they "acknowledge the suzerainty of Medina, to refrain from attack on the Muslims and their allies, and to pay the Zakat, the Muslim religious levy."[183][188]

In 632, at the end of the tenth year after migration to Medina, Muhammad completed his first truly Islamic pilgrimage, thereby teaching his followers the rites of the annual Great Pilgrimage, known as Hajj.[14] After completing the pilgrimage, Muhammad delivered a famous speech, known as the Farewell Sermon, at Mount Arafat east of Mecca. In this sermon, Muhammad advised his followers not to follow certain pre-Islamic customs. Also a white has no superiority over black, nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.[189] He abolished old blood feuds and disputes based on the former tribal system and asked for old pledges to be returned as implications of the creation of the new Islamic community. Commenting on the vulnerability of women in his society, Muhammad asked his male followers to "be good to women, for they are powerless captives (awan) in your households. You took them in God's trust, and legitimated your sexual relations with the Word of God, so come to your senses people, and hear my words ..." He told them that they were entitled to discipline their wives but should do so with kindness. He addressed the issue of inheritance by forbidding false claims of paternity or of a client relationship to the deceased, and forbade his followers to leave their wealth to a testamentary heir. He also upheld the sacredness of four lunar months in each year.[190][191][192] According to Sunnitafsir, the following Quranic verse was delivered during this event: "Today I have perfected your religion, and completed my favours for you and chosen Islam as a religion for you" (Quran 5:3).[14][193] According to Shia tafsir, it refers to the appointment of Ali ibn Abi Talib at the pond of Khumm as Muhammad's successor, this occurring a few days later when Muslims were returning from Mecca to Medina.[194]

Death and tomb

Mausoleum of Muhammad

A few months after the farewell pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill and suffered for several days with fever, head pain, and weakness.[193] He died on Monday, 8 June 632, in Medina, at the age of 62 or 63, in the house of his wife Aisha.[195] With his head resting on Aisha's lap, he asked her to dispose of his last worldly goods (seven coins), then spoke his final words:

O Allah, to Ar-Rafiq Al-A'la (exalted friend, highest abode or the uppermost, highest company in heaven).[196][197][198]

—Muhammad

Ar-Rafiq Al-A'la may be referring to God.[199] He was buried where he died in Aisha's house.[14][200][201][202] During the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I, al-Masjid an-Nabawi (the Mosque of the Prophet) was expanded to include the site of Muhammad's tomb.[203] The Green Dome above the tomb was built by the Mamluk sultan Al Mansur Qalawun in the 13th century, although the green color was added in the 16th century, under the reign of Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.[204] Among tombs adjacent to that of Muhammad are those of his companions (Sahabah), the first two Muslim caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar, and an empty one that Muslims believe awaits Jesus.[201][205][206] When bin Saud took Medina in 1805, Muhammad's tomb was stripped of its gold and jewel ornaments.[207] Adherents to Wahhabism, bin Sauds' followers destroyed nearly every tomb dome in Medina in order to prevent their veneration,[207] and the one of Muhammad is said to have narrowly escaped.[208] Similar events took place in 1925 when the Saudi militias retook—and this time managed to keep—the city.[209][210][211] In the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, burial is to take place in unmarked graves.[208] Although frowned upon by the Saudis, many pilgrims continue to practice a ziyarat—a ritual visit—to the tomb.[212][213] Although banned by the Saudis, the first photos from inside of the tomb of Muhammad and his daughter's (Fatemeh) house were published in October 2012 demonstrating a very simple construction, decorated in green.[214]

After Muhammad

Muhammad united the tribes of Arabia into a single Arab Muslim religious polity in the last years of his life. With Muhammad's death, disagreement broke out over who his successor would be.[17]Umar ibn al-Khattab, a prominent companion of Muhammad, nominated Abu Bakr, Muhammad's friend and collaborator. With additional support Abu Bakr was confirmed as the first caliph.[202] This choice was disputed by some of Muhammad's companions, who held that Ali ibn Abi Talib, his cousin and son-in-law, had been designated the successor by Muhammad at Ghadir Khumm. Abu Bakr's immediately moved to strike against the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman Empire) forces because of the previous defeat, although he first had to put down a rebellion by Arab tribes in an event that Muslim historians later referred to as the Ridda wars, or "Wars of Apostasy".[215]

Early social changes under Islam

According to William Montgomery Watt religion, for Muhammad, was not a private and individual matter but "the total response of his personality to the total situation in which he found himself. He was responding [not only]... to the religious and intellectual aspects of the situation but also to the economic, social, and political pressures to which contemporary Mecca was subject."[217]Bernard Lewis says there are two important political traditions in Islam – Muhammad as a statesman in Medina, and Muhammad as a rebel in Mecca. His view believed Islam as a great change, akin to a revolution, when introduced to new societies.[218]

Historians generally agree that Islamic social changes in areas such as social security, family structure, slavery and the rights of women and children improved on the status quo of Arab society.[218][219] For example, according to Lewis, Islam "from the first denounced aristocratic privilege, rejected hierarchy, and adopted a formula of the career open to the talents".[which?][218] Muhammad's message transformed society and moral orders of life in the Arabian Peninsula; society focused on the changes to perceived identity, world view, and the hierarchy of values.[220][page needed] Economic reforms addressed the plight of the poor, which was becoming an issue in pre-Islamic Mecca.[221] The Quran requires payment of an alms tax (zakat) for the benefit of the poor; as Muhammad's power grew he demanded that tribes who wished to ally with him implement the zakat in particular.[222][223]

Appearance

Muhammad was middle-sized, did not have lank or crisp hair, was not fat, had a white circular face, wide black eyes, and long eye-lashes. When he walked, he walked as though he went down a declivity. He had the "seal of prophecy" between his shoulder blades ... He was bulky. His face shone like the moon. He was taller than middling stature but shorter than conspicuous tallness. He had thick, curly hair. The plaits of his hair were parted. His hair reached beyond the lobe of his ear. His complexion was azhar [bright, luminous]. Muhammad had a wide forehead, and fine, long, arched eyebrows which did not meet. Between his eyebrows there was a vein which distended when he was angry. The upper part of his nose was hooked; he was thick bearded, had smooth cheeks, a strong mouth, and his teeth were set apart. He had thin hair on his chest. His neck was like the neck of an ivory statue, with the purity of silver. Muhammad was proportionate, stout, firm-gripped, even of belly and chest, broad-chested and broad-shouldered.

The "seal of prophecy" between Muhammad's shoulders is generally described as having been a type of raised mole the size of a pigeon's egg.[225] Another description of Muhammad was provided by Umm Ma'bad, a woman he met on his journey to Medina:[226][227]

I saw a man, pure and clean, with a handsome face and a fine figure. He was not marred by a skinny body, nor was he overly small in the head and neck. He was graceful and elegant, with intensely black eyes and thick eyelashes. There was a huskiness in his voice, and his neck was long. His beard was thick, and his eyebrows were finely arched and joined together.

When silent, he was grave and dignified, and when he spoke, glory rose up and overcame him. He was from afar the most beautiful of men and the most glorious, and close up he was the sweetest and the loveliest. He was sweet of speech and articulate, but not petty or trifling. His speech was a string of cascading pearls, measured so that none despaired of its length, and no eye challenged him because of brevity. In company he is like a branch between two other branches, but he is the most flourishing of the three in appearance, and the loveliest in power. He has friends surrounding him, who listen to his words. If he commands, they obey implicitly, with eagerness and haste, without frown or complaint.

Descriptions like these were often reproduced in calligraphic panels (hilya or, in Turkish, hilye), which in the 17th century developed into an art form of their own in the Ottoman Empire.[226]

At the age of 25, Muhammad married the wealthy Khadijah bint Khuwaylid who was 40 years old.[230] The marriage lasted for 25 years and was a happy one.[231] Muhammad relied upon Khadija and did not enter into marriage with another woman during this marriage.[232][233] After Khadija's death, Khawla bint Hakim suggested to Muhammad that he should marry Sawda bint Zama, a Muslim widow, or Aisha, daughter of Um Ruman and Abu Bakr of Mecca. Muhammad is said to have asked for arrangements to marry both.[156]

After migration to Medina, Muhammad (now in his fifties) married several women. These marriages were contracted mostly for political or humanitarian reasons. The women were either widows of Muslims killed in battle and had been left without a protector, or belonged to important families or clans whom it was necessary to honor and strengthen alliances with.[244]

Muhammad did household chores and helped with housework such as preparing food, sewing clothes, and repairing shoes. He is also said to have had accustomed his wives to dialogue; he listened to their advice, and the wives debated and even argued with him.[245][246][247]

Nine of Muhammad's wives survived him.[229] Aisha, who became known as Muhammad's favourite wife in Sunni tradition, survived him by decades and was instrumental in helping assemble the scattered sayings of Muhammad that form the Hadith literature for the Sunni branch of Islam.[156]

Muhammad's descendants through Fatimah are known as sharifs, syeds or sayyids. These are honorific titles in Arabic, sharif meaning 'noble' and sayed or sayyid meaning 'lord' or 'sir'. As Muhammad's only descendants, they are respected by both Sunni and Shi'a, though the Shi'a place much more emphasis and value on their distinction.[250]

Following the attestation to the oneness of God, the belief in Muhammad's prophethood is the main aspect of the Islamic faith. Every Muslim proclaims in Shahadah that "I testify that there is no god but God, and I testify that Muhammad is a Messenger of God". The Shahadah is the basic creed or tenet of Islam. Islamic belief believes ideally the Shahadah is the first words a newborn will hear; children are taught it immediately and it will be recited upon death. Muslims repeat the shahadah in the call to prayer (adhan) and the prayer itself. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the creed.[253]

In Islamic belief, Muhammad is regarded as the last prophet sent by God[4][254][255][256][257] for the benefit of mankind. Quran10:37 states that "...it (the Quran) is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book – wherein there is no doubt – from The Lord of the Worlds.". Similarly Quran46:12 states "...And before this was the book of Moses, as a guide and a mercy. And this Book confirms (it)...", while 2:136 commands the believers of Islam to "Say: we believe in God and that which is revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered."

The Sunnah represents actions and sayings of Muhammad (preserved in reports known as Hadith), and covers a broad array of activities and beliefs ranging from religious rituals, personal hygiene, burial of the dead to the mystical questions involving the love between humans and God. The Sunnah is considered a model of emulation for pious Muslims and has to a great degree influenced the Muslim culture. The greeting that Muhammad taught Muslims to offer each other, "may peace be upon you" (Arabic: as-salamu `alaykum) is used by Muslims throughout the world. Many details of major Islamic rituals such as daily prayers, the fasting and the annual pilgrimage are only found in the Sunnah and not the Quran.[261]

The Sunnah contributed much to the development of Islamic law, particularly from the end of the first Islamic century.[262] Muslim mystics, known as sufis, who were seeking for the inner meaning of the Quran and the inner nature of Muhammad, viewed the prophet of Islam not only as a prophet but also as a perfect human-being. All Sufi orders trace their chain of spiritual descent back to Muhammad.[263]

Calligraphic rendering of "peace be upon him", customarily added after Muhammad's name in writing. The phrase is encoded as a ligature at Unicode codepoint U+FDFA.[264]ﷺ‎.

Muslims have traditionally expressed love and veneration for Muhammad. Stories of Muhammad's life, his intercession and of his miracles (particularly "Splitting of the moon") have permeated popular Muslim thought and poetry. Among Arabic odes to Muhammad, Qasidat al-Burda ("Poem of the Mantle") by the Egyptian Sufial-Busiri (1211–1294) is particularly well known, and widely held to possess a healing, spiritual power.[265] The Quran refers to Muhammad as "a mercy (rahmat) to the worlds" (Quran 21:107).[14] The association of rain with mercy in Oriental countries has led to imagining Muhammad as a rain cloud dispensing blessings and stretching over lands, reviving the dead hearts, just as rain revives the seemingly dead earth (see, for example, the Sindhi poem of Shah ʿAbd al-Latif).[14]Muhammad's birthday is celebrated as a major feast throughout the Islamic world, excluding Wahhabi-dominated Saudi Arabia where these public celebrations are discouraged.[266] When Muslims say or write the name of Muhammad, they usually follow it with Peace be upon him (Arabic: sallAllahu `alayhi wa sallam).[267] In casual writing, this is sometimes abbreviated as PBUH or SAW; in printed matter, a small calligraphic rendition is commonly used (ﷺ).

Islamic depictions

Muhammad's entry into Mecca and the destruction of idols. Muhammad is shown as a flame in this manuscript. Found in Bazil's Hamla-i Haydari, Kashmir, 1808.

In line with the hadith prohibition against creating images of sentient living beings, which is particularly strictly observed with respect to God and Muhammad, Islamic religious art is focused on the word.[268][269] Muslims generally avoid depictions of Muhammad, and mosques are decorated with calligraphy and Quranic inscriptions or geometrical designs, not images or sculptures.[268][270] Today, the interdiction against images of Muhammad – designed to prevent worship of Muhammad, rather than God – is much more strictly observed in Sunni Islam (85%–90% of Muslims) and Ahmadiyya Islam (1%) than among Shias (10%–15%).[271] While both Sunnis and Shias have created images of Muhammad in the past,[272] Islamic depictions of Muhammad are rare.[268] They have, until recently[when?], mostly been limited to the private and elite medium of the miniature, and since about 1500 most depictions show Muhammad with his face veiled, or symbolically represent him as a flame.[270][273]

The earliest extant depictions come from 13th century Anatolian Seljuk and IlkhanidPersian miniatures, typically in literary genres describing the life and deeds of Muhammad.[273][274] During the Ilkhanid period, when Persia's Mongol rulers converted to Islam, competing Sunni and Shi'a groups used visual imagery, including images of Muhammad, to promote their particular interpretation of Islam's key events.[275] Influenced by the Buddhist tradition of representational religious art predating the Mongol elite's conversion, this innovation was unprecedented in the Islamic world, and accompanied by a "broader shift in Islamic artistic culture away from abstraction toward representation" in "mosques, on tapestries, silks, ceramics, and in glass and metalwork" besides books.[276] In the Persian lands, this tradition of realistic depictions lasted through the Timurid dynasty until the Safavids took power in the early 16th century.[275] The Safavaids, who made Shi'i Islam the state religion, initiated a departure from the traditional Ilkhanid and Timurid artistic style by covering Muhammad's face with a veil to obscure his features and at the same time represent his luminous essence.[277] Concomitantly, some of the unveiled images from earlier periods were defaced.[275][278][279] Later images were produced in Ottoman Turkey and elsewhere, but mosques were never decorated with images of Muhammad.[272] Illustrated accounts of the night journey (mi'raj) were particularly popular from the Ilkhanid period through the Safavid era.[280] During the 19th century, Iran saw a boom of printed and illustrated mi'raj books, with Muhammad's face veiled, aimed in particular at illiterates and children in the manner of graphic novels. Reproduced through lithography, these were essentially "printed manuscripts".[280] Today, millions of historical reproductions and modern images are available in some Muslim countries, especially Turkey and Iran, on posters, postcards, and even in coffee-table books, but are unknown in most other parts of the Islamic world, and when encountered by Muslims from other countries, they can cause considerable consternation and offense.[272][273]

Non-Muslim views

Non-Muslim views regarding Muhammad have ranged across a large spectrum of responses and beliefs, many of which have changed over time.[281][282]

Historical Christian views

The earliest documented Christian knowledge of Muhammad stems from Byzantine sources. They indicate that both Jews and Christians saw Muhammad as a "false prophet".[283] Another Greek source for Muhammad is Theophanes, a 9th-century writer. The earliest Syriac source is the 7th-century writer John bar Penkaye.[284]

According to Hossein Nasr, the earliest European literature often refers to Muhammad unfavorably. A few learned circles of Middle Ages Europe – primarily Latin-literate scholars – had access to fairly extensive biographical material about Muhammad. They interpreted the biography through a Christian religious filter; one that viewed Muhammad as a person who seduced the Saracens into his submission under religious guise.[14] Popular European literature of the time portrayed Muhammad as though he were worshipped by Muslims, similar to an idol or a heathen god.[14]

In later ages, Muhammad came to be seen as a schismatic: Brunetto Latini's 13th century Li livres dou tresor represents him as a former monk and cardinal,[14] and Dante'sDivine Comedy (Inferno, Canto 28), written in the early 1300s, puts Muhammad and his son-in-law, Ali, in Hell "among the sowers of discord and the schismatics, being lacerated by devils again and again."[14] Cultural critic and author Edward Said wrote in Orientalism regarding Dante's depiction of Muhammad:

Empirical data about the Orient...count for very little; ... What ... Dante tried to do in the Inferno, is ... to characterize the Orient as alien and to incorporate it schematically on a theatrical stage whose audience, manager, and actors are ... only for Europe. Hence the vacillation between the familiar and the alien; Mohammed is always the imposter (familiar, because he pretends to be like the Jesus we know) and always the Oriental (alien, because although he is in some ways "like" Jesus, he is after all not like him).[285]

However, Ibn Warraq has challenged Said's assessment of Dante's work as seriously flawed, writing: "Said does not come across as a careful reader of Dante and his masterpiece, The Divine Comedy". Warraq argues first that Said is oblivious to the allegorical content of The Divine Comedy; second, that Said ignores the historical context of Dante's work (i.e., Dante and some of his contemporaries believed that Muhammad was a schismatic Christian who intended to usurp the Pope, thus a heretic); and third that Said misinterprets Dante's placing of three notable Muslims (Avicenna and Averroes and Saladin) in the outer circle of hell: "these illustrious Muslims were included precisely because of Dante's reverence for all that was best in the non-Christian world, and their exclusion from salvation, inevitable under Christian doctrine, saddened him and put a great strain on his mind".[286]

After the Reformation, Muhammad was often portrayed in a similar way.[14][287]Guillaume Postel was among the first to present a more positive view of Muhammad.[14] Boulainvilliers described Muhammad as a gifted political leader and a just lawmaker.[14]Gottfried Leibniz praised Muhammad because "he did not deviate from the natural religion".[14]Thomas Carlyle in his book Heroes and Hero Worship and the Heroic in History (1840) describes Muhammad as "[a] silent great soul; [...] one of those who cannot but be in earnest".[288] Carlyle's interpretation has been widely cited by Muslim scholars as a demonstration that Western scholarship validates Muhammad's status as a great man in history.[289]Henri, Count of Boulainvilliers (1658–1722), wrote Vie de Mahomed which was published posthumously in 1730. He presents the Prophet as a divinely inspired messenger whom God employed to confound the bickering Oriental Christians, to liberate the Orient from the despotic rule of the Romans and Persians, and to spread the knowledge of the unity of God from India to Spain. Voltaire had both a positive and negative opinion on Muhammad: in his play Le fanatisme, ou Mahomet le Prophète he vilifies the Prophet as a symbol of fanaticism, and in a published essay in 1748 he calls him "a sublime and hearty charlatan", but in his historical survey Essai sur les mœurs , he presents Muhammad as legislator and a conqueror and calls him an "enthusiast", not an imposter. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his Social Contract (1762), brushing aside hostile legends of Muhammad as a trickster and impostor, presents him as a sage legislator who wisely fused religious and political powers. Emmanuel Pastoret published in 1787 his Zoroaster, Confucius and Muhammad, in which he presents the lives of these three "great men," "the greatest legislators of the universe," and compares their careers as religious reformers and lawgivers. He defends the Prophet, too often calumniated as an impostor. In fact, the Quran proffers "the most sublime truths of cult and morals"; it defines the unity of God with an "admirable concision." The common accusations of the Prophet's immorality are unfounded: on the contrary, his law enjoins sobriety, generosity, and compassion on his followers: the "legislator of Arabia" was "a great man."[290]Napoleon Bonaparte admired Muhammad and Islam,[291] and described him as a model lawmaker and a great man.[292][293]

According to William Montgomery Watt and Richard Bell, recent writers generally dismiss the idea that Muhammad deliberately deceived his followers, arguing that Muhammad "was absolutely sincere and acted in complete good faith"[294] and Muhammad's readiness to endure hardship for his cause, with what seemed to be no rational basis for hope, shows his sincerity.[295] Watt says that sincerity does not directly imply correctness: In contemporary terms, Muhammad might have mistaken his subconscious for divine revelation.[296] Watt and Bernard Lewis argue that viewing Muhammad as a self-seeking impostor makes it impossible to understand Islam's development.[297][298]Alford T. Welch holds that Muhammad was able to be so influential and successful because of his firm belief in his vocation.[14]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints neither regards Muhammad as a prophet nor accepts the Quran as a book of scripture. However, it does respect Muhammad as one who taught moral truths which can enlighten nations and bring a higher level of understanding to individuals.[300]

Criticism

Muhammad has been criticized ever since he claimed prophethood. He had been attacked by his non-Muslim Arab contemporaries for preaching monotheism. In modern times, criticism has also dealt with Muhammad's sincerity in claiming to be a prophet, his morality, and his marriages.

^There are smaller sects which too believe Muhammad to be not the last Prophet: The Nation of Islam considers Elijah Muhammad to be a prophet (source: African American Religious Leaders – Page 76, Jim Haskins, Kathleen Benson – 2008). United Submitters International consider Rashad Khalifa to be a prophet. (Source: Daniel Pipes, Miniatures: Views of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics, page 98 (2004))

^'Islam' is always referred to in the Quran as a dīn, a word that means "way" or "path" in Arabic, but is usually translated in English as "religion" for the sake of convenience

^S. A. Nigosian(2004), p. 6 The Encyclopaedia of Islam says that the Quran responds "constantly and often candidly to Muhammad's changing historical circumstances and contains a wealth of hidden data."

^The aforementioned Islamic histories recount that as Muhammad was reciting Sūra Al-Najm (Q.53), as revealed to him by the Archangel Gabriel, Satan tempted him to utter the following lines after verses 19 and 20: "Have you thought of Allāt and al-'Uzzā and Manāt the third, the other; These are the exalted Gharaniq, whose intercession is hoped for." (Allāt, al-'Uzzā and Manāt were three goddesses worshiped by the Meccans). cf Ibn Ishaq, A. Guillaume p. 166.

^"Apart from this one-day lapse, which was excised from the text, the Quran is simply unrelenting, unaccommodating and outright despising of paganism." (The Cambridge companion to Muhammad, Jonathan E. Brockopp, p.35)

^"Although, there could be some historical basis for the story, in its present form, it is certainly a later, exegetical fabrication. Sura LIII, 1-20 and the end of the sura are not a unity, as is claimed by the story, XXII, 52 is later than LIII, 2107 and is almost certainly Medinan; and several details of the story- the mosque, the sadjda, and others not mentioned in the short summary above do not belong to Meccan setting. Caetani and J. Burton have argued against the historicity of the story on other grounds, Caetani on the basis of week isnads, Burton concluded that the story was invented by jurists so that XXII 52 could serve as a Kuranic proof-text for their abrogation theories."("Kuran" in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd Edition, Vol. 5 (1986), p. 404)

References

^Elizabeth Goldman (1995), p. 63, gives 8 June 632, the dominant Islamic tradition. Many earlier (mainly non-Islamic) traditions refer to him as still alive at the time of the invasion of Palestine. See Stephen J. Shoemaker,The Death of a Prophet: The End of Muhammad's Life and the Beginnings of Islam,[page needed] University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.